The RoundHouse | 6/5/2018 2:55:00 PM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
Wichita State's Hunter Veith competes in the decathlon this week. His training routine, forced upon him by a sore back, prepares him for a different event.
 
"I'm in perfect shape for a triathlon," he said.
 
Veith enters Wednesday's decathlon at the NCAA Championships with the nation's No. 2 score, 8,046 points at the Texas Relays in late March. He finished second in the pentathlon at the NCAA Indoor in early March with 6,090 points.
 
He starts with the 100 meters on Wednesday afternoon at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., optimistic, yet unsure, as to how his body will hold up as he tries to compete with a stress reaction in his lower back. The event continues on Thursday with the final five events. 
 
"I am really impressed with how he's done to maintain his fitness the best he can and try to let his back settle down," Wichita State coach Steve Rainbolt said. "I am believing that he is able to go there and get through the decathlon and compete at a high level. If there's anybody who can do that, it's Hunter Veith."
 
Veith said the injury surfaced at the Texas Relays, the last time he competed in the decathlon. He competed in individual events in the American Athletic Conference Championships in mid-May and finished fifth in the long jump and eighth in the 110-meter hurdles.
 
"This injury has kind of hit me back," he said "Training hasn't been optimal."
 
He didn't do much running or jumping to prepare for Eugene. He swims. He bikes. He lifts weights that don't put stress on his back.
 
He will count on muscle memory and experience to make up for the less-than-perfect training sessions.
 
"This meet isn't going to be about the athlete that I've built," he said. "It's going to be about my experiences I've had in track and field and applying those to the meet and competing with my heart, even if my body is not to the level I want it to be."
 
Veith, a senior from Cheney, finished sixth in last season's NCAA decathlon (7,866 points). That performance told Rainbolt that Veith could win a national title.
 
"He is as experienced as you could possibly be," Rainbolt said. "I am operating on the belief that his back will allow him to go and compete, and if it does, they're going to have a tough time beating him."
 
Javelin throwers Aaron True and Damien Odle join Veith at Hayward Field this week. The javelin is Wednesday night.
 
True, a junior from Leroy, is seeded fifth (231 feet, 5 inches) and Odle, a senior from Greensburg, is seeded 13^th(221-6).
 
Odle, who placed ninth in the NCAA meet in 2016 with a throw of 235-11, is also rehabbing an injury. He strained his groin during his third throw at the Texas Relays.
 
He threw with a scaled-back motion in the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships in May and placed seventh with a throw of 217 feet, 2 inches. Two weeks later, he threw 221-6 in the NCAA West Preliminary to finish 10^thand advance to this week's NCAA Championships. 
 
"We didn't know if he could even throw (at the conference meet)," Rainbolt said. "He, literally, just about walked up to the plant and just found a way to throw the thing far enough to score nice points for the team."
 
Odle wasn't sure what to expect when he competed in the NCAA West Preliminary in Sacramento, two weeks after the conference meet. 
 
"I didn't know what my limitations were," he said. "I felt my body react to the throw and I was like 'Ok, I can open up and relax because it didn't hurt.' Once I started competing, I just felt comfortable."
 
He threw 221-6 on his final throw, lifting him comfortably into this week's meet. 
 
"I feel like I'm getting back to 100 percent and being able to compete at a high level," he said.
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.